Archive for the ‘Media coverage’ Category.

CEN article: Anger as ‘dry’ Tesco puts up adverts for half-price wine

We cannot help point out that if the manager, Mr Capone, and his staff cannot get a simple thing like this right, what hope is there for the more sensitive task of ensuring that alcohol is only sold in a legal manner, a matter which is subject to examination in the Magistrates’ Court shortly…

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

Posters in the window

TESCO has been ordered to remove adverts for cheap wine from its shop in Cambridge’s Mill Road – because it has no alcohol licence.

Trading Standards officers launched an investigation after the adverts were displayed at the controversial Express store.

Campaigners accused Tesco chiefs of “contempt for the community” for plugging half-price Dino Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio wines, in an area where new alcohol licences are routinely opposed.

Trading Standards officers visited the store and spoke to manager Luke Capone, who agreed to take down the posters – which advertised deals available in other Tesco branches.

The Mill Road shop, which opened last August, was refused an alcohol licence after police objected because it falls within a ‘cumulative impact zone’ – which creates a presumption against giving out new licences.

Beverley Carpenter, co-ordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, said: “We are dismayed that Tesco has once again demonstrated complete insensitivity and lack of respect for the local community in posting advertisements for cheap alcohol in Mill Road.

“Their half-price offer on bottles of wine as seen in the window of their Express store on Mill Road is not only within a ‘cumulative impact zone’ but in a store that has been expressly refused permission to sell alcohol amid a huge public outcry and unprecedented publicity for any alcohol licence application in Cambridge.”

Supermarket bosses are appealing against the Cambridge City Council decision.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Trading Standards said: “I can confirm that we have received an inquiry from a member of the public, and we investigated the advertising used by Tesco in their Mill Road store.

“One of our officers visited the store and spoke to the manager who took down the adverts.”

Tesco’s appeal against the licence decision will be heard at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court later this month.

Cambridge Evening News, 1st February 2010

CEN article on broken window

The CEN has published an article about a recent breakage of the window in Tesco’s window, as below.

For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to make clear that No Mill Road Tesco is not associated with this attack and that we deplore any form of violence. We deplore the way that the Cambridge Evening News has mixed two separate issues – this attack, and the alcohol licence appeal – in its article below. We were not approached for a comment, and the quotation given was from several months ago.

The article also failed to point out that the Londis store (opposite Tesco) was also attacked at the same time and that alcohol was stolen from their store.

Shop attacked as Tesco bids for drinks licence

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

Shop window

VANDALS have struck twice at Tesco in Mill Road, Cambridge.

A brick was thrown through the front window of the store, which opened despite a two-year fight by residents and other shops who said it would ruin the road’s character.

In the other attack, someone tried to put their foot through the window. No other shops in the area were targeted.

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We are working with the police on this matter.”

Tesco is appealing against a decision not to give the store an alcohol licence for its Mill Road store. The chain sought a licence to sell alcohol from 10am-10pm seven days a week, but the area is a “cumulative impact zone”, which creates a presumption against giving out new alcohol licences.

Police objected to the original application, saying it could add to disorder in the area.

When the city council’s licensing sub-committee rejected the application for a drinks licence last year, it was greeted with loud applause from campaigners.

Ruth Deyermond, planning co-ordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, then hailed the decision “a victory for common sense and the community”.

The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign has vowed to fight Tesco’s appeal for a drinks licence. A spokeswoman said: “We will maintain the opposition we successfully put forward at the licensing committee.”

The case will be heard at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court at a later date.

Cambridge Evening News, 16th January 2010

CEN article: Tesco in second bid to sell booze

Home - Tesco. TESCO has appealed against a decision not to give it an alcohol licence for its Cambridge Mill Road store – after vowing not to sell booze in “known disorder” areas.
The appeal comes despite the troubled area being designated a “cumulative impact zone”, which creates a presumption against giving out new alcohol licenses.

Cambridgeshire police objected to the original application on the grounds it could add to disorder in the area.

But Tesco chiefs have appealed against the decision despite the statement on their website which says: “We do not apply for licences in areas with known disorder issues.”

Cambridge City Council’s licensing sub-committee’s decision on August 17 to reject the store’s booze application was greeted by loud applause from campaigners.

Ruth Deyermond, planning co-ordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, hailed the decision “a victory for common sense and the community”.

Tesco sought a licence to sell alcohol from 10am-10pm seven days a week.

But police opposed the application arguing further alcohol sales would exacerbate alcohol-related problems.

Insp Marcia Nichols said the area suffered a “disproportionate” level of alcohol-related trouble and was already a “hotspot for violence”.

But Tesco will attempt to persuade councillors to grant a licence in December.

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We have submitted an appeal against the decision for the alcohol licence. Our Express store in Mill Road is extremely popular and customers have told us they would like the opportunity to purchase our full range of items and this includes beers, wines and spirits.

“As a company, we take our responsibilities regarding the sale of alcohol exceptionally seriously and we already have robust policies in place to ensure our staff sell alcohol legally.”

No Mill Road Tesco Campaign has vowed to fight the licence bid.

A spokeswoman said: “We will maintain the opposition we successfully put forward at the licensing committee last time.”
The case will now be heard at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court.

A council statement said: “We have been advised Tesco Stores Ltd have appealed the sub-committee’s decision and consequently the matter will be subject to a further hearing in the Magistrates’ Court.”

Cambridge News, 3rd October 2009

CEN article: High Court bid to stop Tesco

Banners

[NB: NMRT is not, and has never been associated with any attacks on staff and we deplore the suggestion here that this could be the case.]

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

ANTI-Tesco campaigners are heading to the High Court today in a last-ditch attempt to stop the supermarket giant opening in Cambridge’s Mill Road.

The Express store is due to open on Wednesday but No Mill Road Tesco has refused to admit defeat.

Campaigners are heading to London’s High Court to try to force Cambridge City Council to take action over Tesco’s plans to deliver to the store, which protesters have branded illegal and “dangerous”.

If the case against Cambridge City Council to force it to stop Tesco making deliveries goes ahead, there could also be a judicial review later this week.

The campaigners were out in force again on Saturday.

Campaign spokeswoman Ruth Deyermond vowed that the fight would continue.

She said: “This is a matter that is now before the High Court, and we are very interested to see their judgement of Tesco and the council’s actions.”

There has been furious opposition to the shop with more than 5,000 people signing a petition against it, but some residents are in favour, saying Tesco will bring cheaper prices.

Tesco chiefs say work is now almost finished on the new store which opens at 8am on Wednesday followed by the official launch at 10.30am.

Then store staff will celebrate by making a £500 donation to Arthur Rank Hospice.

Store manager Terry Barker is looking forward to working with his new team. The store will create 20 jobs.

He said: “We are delighted that we can create stable jobs for local people in this time of uncertainty. We look forward to playing an active role in the local community.”

The new store will open from 6am until 11pm seven days a week. It will also have a free cash machine although it will not sell alcohol after Cambridge City Council threw out a licence application last week following objections from the public and police.

Security guards will also patrol the stores in an “unusual step” by Tesco bosses who fear attacks on staff and customers from protesters.

It will also make deliveries to the back of the store after a U-turn on onstreet deliveries following warnings the move would be “dangerous”.

Cambridge Evening News, 24th August 2009

Tune in to Radio 209 on Monday

We are due to take part in an interview on 209 radio at 5.30pm on Monday. Do tune in!

CEN article: Tesco fails to win licence for drinks

john.downing@cambridge-news.co.uk

Cambridge - Tesco site Mill RoadTESCO’S new store in Mill Road will open without booze after city councillors rejected its application for a drinks licence.

The licensing sub-committee’s decision yesterday was greeted by loud applause from campaigners who had fought the supermarket giant’s plans every step of the way.

Ruth Deyermond, planning coordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, hailed the decision “a victory for common sense and the community”.

Solicitor Jeremy Bark put the case for Tesco’s application, saying the store would open “in any event” on August 26.

Tesco sought a licence to sell alcohol from 10am-10pm seven days a week.

He said 7 to 8 per cent of the sales at a typical Tesco Express are alcohol and the company had a “good history of working with police” to ensure all sales were legal.

Cambridgeshire police opposed the application, arguing further alcohol sales would exacerbate alcohol-related problems.

The Mill Road area was designated a “cumulative impact zone” in May 2008, meaning new applications would normally be refused unless the applicant could show it would not add to drink-related trouble.

Insp Marcia Nichols said the area suffered a “disproportionate” level of alcohol-related trouble and was already a “hotspot for violence”.

Dr Deyermond, speaking on behalf of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, told the meeting the application was “totally inappropriate” in a cumulative impact zone.

Janette Evely, a parent from Argyle Street and a teacher at St Philip’s Primary School, said pupils often encountered antisocial behaviour related to street drinking, and Mill Road did not need another outlet selling drink.

Cllr Mike Dixon, sub-committee chairman, announced the application was rejected for its failure to adequately address the cumulative impact policy and the council’s planning policy.

Dr Deyermond said: “We think this is a victory for common sense and the community.”

Insp Nichols said: “The issue was never about Tesco. The increase in sales of alcohol by any premises would have had a detrimental impact.”

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We are disappointed but are looking forward to opening the store on August 26 as planned.”

Cambridge Evening News, 18/08/2009

CEN article: Tesco set for 15th city store

Note: NMRT has no view on other Tesco stores around Cambridge. However, this story will be of interest to some of our supporters, and it also mentions the artistic protest event which took place at the weekend.

——-

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

TESCO is considering opening another store in Cambridge – the supermarket giant’s 15th in the city.

The former Dreams bed shop in East Road has been earmarked as a prime site for an Express store.

The latest proposed scheme would be less than one mile from the controversial store in Mill Road, which is set to open on August 26.

There has been furious opposition to the Mill Road shop, due to the street’s reputation for unique, independent retailers.

More than 5,000 people signed a petition against it, but some residents are in favour, saying Tesco will bring cheaper prices.

The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign this weekend held a demonstration at the site for the second Saturday in a row.

And Cambridge City Council is today (Monday, 17 August) set to decide on an alcohol licence for the store.

Beverley Carpenter, the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign co-ordinator, said: “It was quite a lively protest.

“We were protesting about the licensing application. We decorated the fence around the site with lager cans. We are hopeful the application will be turned down.”

She said while the group felt it was “really inappropriate” to have a Tesco store on Mill Road, it did not hold particular views on applications at other sites in the city.

Dreams, the bed linen and furniture store, has moved to the Beehive centre and held its grand opening this weekend.

Glen Deadman, assistant manager of Dreams, said: “I think it would be good if Tesco is moving to our old site.

There are so many students and people on that road that would use it. The road needs brightening up.”

London-based CgMs, which has been the planning agent for Tesco’s Mill Road store, is also overseeing applications to Cambridge City Council for the East Road venture.

Plans for “plant works to rear enclosed by 2m high hit and miss fence” at the site were approved earlier this year.

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We are always on the lookout for possible new sites all over the country and are often in negotiations for suitable schemes for Express stores.

“However, these often never materialise and until an agreement is reached or an application made we would not comment on individual cases.”

Cambridge Evening News, 17th August 2009

Knitting protest at Tesco

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

Home - Knitting protest Mill Road Tesco

Protesters have knitted their feelings outside the Mill Road site.

TESCO bosses have been given the needle in a bizarre “knitting” attack on their planned store in Cambridge’s Mill Road.

The demonstration comes as the battle against the supermarket giant hots up just 15 days before the store is due to open.

Legal action against Tesco has been threatened over onstreet deliveries to the Express store and Cambridgeshire police have objected to an alcohol licence application.

Protesters twice stitched the word ‘Arrogant’ on to a barrier surrounding the shop over the weekend.

A group called ‘Get Knitted’ has claimed responsibility for the stitch-up and are following a campaigners’ craze sweeping the USA, where statues have been draped in scarves by ‘knit graffiti’ artists aiming to ‘beautify’ public spaces.

The demonstration in Cambridge was inspired by the children’s story Charlotte’s W eb,in which a spider uses a web to spell out words.

One member of the group, Cambridge co-ordinator for Friends of the Earth, Lulu Agate, 44, who lives off Mill Road, told the News: “I’m not a bomb-throwing revolutionary and I don’t want to damage property. I feel very lucky to live in a country where I can express how I feel.

“It just makes my blood boil that these companies can trample the rest of us.

“I did the stitching on Friday night and the builders took it off the next day. Then other members of the group went back on Sunday and did it again.”

Meanwhile, No Mill Road Tesco campaigners organised a two-hour protest outside the store on Saturday.

The campaigners are threatening to take legal action against Cambridge City Council if it fails to apply for an injunction to prevent the firm making on-street deliveries to the new store.

They claim the move would be in breach of its planning conditions.

Tesco has said it intends to carry out deliveries at the front of the shop.

Rich Rippin, who plans legal action, said: “Tesco have said that they are going to do something which they are specifically banned from doing at this site, and which every expert has said poses a risk to public safety.

“It would make a mockery of the planning process, and the role of councillors and local people in that process, if the council did not take action to stop this happening.”

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We always said we wanted to be part of a close-knit community. We are looking forward to opening the store on August 26 as planned.”

Cambridge Evening News, 11th August 2009

CEN article: Protesters threaten legal action over store deliveries

PROTESTERS gathered to express their opposition to Tesco’s new store in Cambridge’s Mill Road.

The No Mill Road Tesco campaigners organised the two-hour event outside the site for the new Tesco Express, which is scheduled to open on Wednesday, August 26, following a lengthy wrangle between the supermarket chain and local residents and traders.

Opponents of the plans decorated the former Wilco store with placards, banners and artworks outlining their objections to the scheme.

The campaigners are threatening to take legal action against Cambridge City Council if it fails to apply for an injunction to prevent the firm making on-street deliveries to the new store, which they claim would be in breach of its planning conditions. Tesco has said it intends to carry out deliveries at the front of the shop.

Rob Birch, who organised the protest, said: “The protest was a response to Tesco’s plan to open despite being refused planning permission and a response to their dangerous plan to stop 35 delivery lorries a week on the street.

“We’ll keep coming back to protest until Tesco starts listening.”

Cambridge Evening News, 10th August 2009.

CEN article: Ban demanded after Tesco delivery ‘snub’

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=439537
raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk
Tesco must not be allowed to open its controversial new store in Cambridge’s Mill Road, says a city pressure group.
With just 20 days left until the shop opens its doors, Cambridge Cycling Campaign has called on the city council to take enforcement action against the supermarket and stop the opening.
The group weighed in after Tesco vowed to make on-street deliveries to the store, despite danger warnings from planners.
Martin Lucas-Smith, co-ordinator of Cambridge Cycling Campaign, said: “Any sensible person would recognise that having a 34ft lorry stopped on Mill Road for 41 minutes a time, twice a day, would be bad for road safety and traffic
flow.
“It makes a mockery of the £400,000 to be spent on safety measures in Mill Road, if a key problem – delivery vehicles blocking the road – is made worse by the council failing to enforce a basic planning condition.
“It is too early to say what action we would take next, but the council has no excuse not to serve an injunction after Tesco’s admission that they intend just to ignore the rules.”
The supermarket giant has been warned by the highways authority, the Planning Inspectorate and city council not to deliver to the front of the store.
And ‘No Mill Road Tesco’ campaigners claim the company will be breaking the law and face fines of up to £1,000 a day if it goes ahead with deliveries.
They have written to council planners asking that enforcement action be taken.
While some have welcomed Tesco’s plan to open a shop at the old Wilco premises,there has a 5,000-name petition and demonstrations opposing it, and squatters turned the premises into a social centre before being evicted.
Planning officer Peter Carter said: “If Tesco do deliver to the store at the front it may be a threat to safety and we may have to enforce any alleged breach of planning conditions.”
A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We will deliver to the front of the store as the previous occupants did and as do most retailers on Mill Road.”
The Express store is set to open on Wednesday, August 26.

Tesco must not be allowed to open its controversial new store in Cambridge’s Mill Road, says a city pressure group.

With just 20 days left until the shop opens its doors, Cambridge Cycling Campaign has called on the city council to take enforcement action against the supermarket and stop the opening.

The group weighed in after Tesco vowed to make on-street deliveries to the store, despite danger warnings from planners.

Martin Lucas-Smith, co-ordinator of Cambridge Cycling Campaign, said: “Any sensible person would recognise that having a 34ft lorry stopped on Mill Road for 41 minutes a time, twice a day, would be bad for road safety and traffic flow.

“It makes a mockery of the £400,000 to be spent on safety measures in Mill Road, if a key problem – delivery vehicles blocking the road – is made worse by the council failing to enforce a basic planning condition.

“It is too early to say what action we would take next, but the council has no excuse not to serve an injunction after Tesco’s admission that they intend just to ignore the rules.”

The supermarket giant has been warned by the highways authority, the Planning Inspectorate and city council not to deliver to the front of the store.

And ‘No Mill Road Tesco’ campaigners claim the company will be breaking the law and face fines of up to £1,000 a day if it goes ahead with deliveries.

They have written to council planners asking that enforcement action be taken.

While some have welcomed Tesco’s plan to open a shop at the old Wilco premises,there has a 5,000-name petition and demonstrations opposing it, and squatters turned the premises into a social centre before being evicted.

Planning officer Peter Carter said: “If Tesco do deliver to the store at the front it may be a threat to safety and we may have to enforce any alleged breach of planning conditions.”

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We will deliver to the front of the store as the previous occupants did and as do most retailers on Mill Road.”

The Express store is set to open on Wednesday, August 26.

Cambridge Evening News, 7th August 2009